Horn Book

Spare diary entries relate twelve-year-old orphan Mary’s heart-wrenching experience at the soon-to-be-shuttered Thornhill Institute in 1982. Electively mute, sensitive, and creative, Mary makes an obvious target for a sadistic bully (whom Mary refers to only, and ominously, as she); the torment causes her to become ever more withdrawn. Alternating Selznick-style (The Invention of Hugo Cabret, rev. 3/07) with Mary’s narrative is another one told entirely in atmospheric blackand- white illustrations: in 2017, Ella moves with her single, never-present father into a house overlooking the now-abandoned Thornhill. Ella’s investigation into Thornhill’s past, her discovery of Mary’s diary, and her overtures of friendship to the mysterious girl she glimpses at Thornhill, made through a mutual interest in the art of puppetry, gradually reveal Mary’s fate. The separate stories of these two desperately lonely girls intertwine in a conclusion that’s both devastating and fitting. The suspenseful ghost story and the highly visual format make for an undeniable page-turner, but text and illustrations alike reward careful attention with telling details. Gothic fiction serves as inspiration for both the book’s style and the imaginations of its protagonists (check out the books and posters in Ella’s bedroom), and Smy does the genre proud. katie bircher